Dragon Ball: A New Generation
by kailin2017
Summary: Centuries after the story of Goku and the Z-warriors, comes the tale/tail of his 15 year old grandson, Kakarot. Goku's story being reduced to a myth, what will Kakarot do after his family dies in a mysterious earthquake?
1. Kakarot's Story

Chapter 1: Kakarot's Story

I slowly walk through what was once a peaceful city. As I pass by the buildings that were now rubble, I can't help but remember how different things had been. The cars zipping along on the streets, the families and bonds created in this city, and the history that was made right under my nose.

I'm called Kakarot, age 15. I was named after my ancient ancestor. You know him as Goku. He was what's known as a Saiyan, an alien race that was said to have perished long ago, but he wasn't just any Saiyan; he was once known as the infamous Super Saiyan God. It was told that he saved the universe dozens of times, against enemies stronger than one can comprehend. He was the Earth's greatest defender. Well, was. My Grandpa Goku has been gone for a long time. It was told that he disappeared after he found out that the Earth would never be safe with him around. So he rode off on the eternal dragon, Shenron. His stories have been reduced to myths. Just stories told throughout time, but I have a feeling that the stories are true.

That's why I'm here, walking through the streets of a deserted city. Once the Great Earthquake hit, I don't run into much trouble. Or at least I thought it was an earthquake. I didn't really know, but I thought I sensed a strong, yet vague power level. My father taught me how to do that, sense power levels. He also taught me martial arts, just like my Grandpa Goku did. I was told that just like him when he was a kid, I was a very abnormal child. I mean there's not much room for being normal when one has a monkey tail coming out of his backside. I've heard that bullets only stung him, but didn't penetrate his skin. I wasn't sure if I was that strong, but I didn't want to find out. I am strong enough to give a giant boulder a huge crack, but not shatter. I was fast, just about as fast as a rookie Saiyan, which was actually pretty good. Being a Saiyan myself, some of these things come naturally. There's so many years in between Grandpa Goku and myself that the Saiyan in me is almost non-existent. Almost.

The dry wind blew through my hair and my clothes like a ghost passing through me. I've been told that I'm practically the mirror image of my Grandpa Goku. I'm not the first, though. My Grandpa Goku Jr., Goku's great great grandson, looked close to him, and my Grandpa Goten, Goku's son, looked like him as a kid. The clothes I wear have been passed down for generations. A blue sleeveless gi and yellow pants held together by a white belt with red were first worn by my Grandpa Goku, then got passed down to my Grandpa Goku Jr. as a gift from my Grandma Pan. I also wear a black shirt underneath and a red bandanna. I'm surprised that these clothes have survived this long, considering how old they are and how torn up they once were.

After a walk that seemed like weeks, I finally see it: the old Capsule Corp headquarters. The roof was caved in by the earthquake, the windows cracked, some shattered. There was a girl who aided my Grandpa Goku through all his adventures ever since he was a little kid. Her name was Bulma. It was told in the story that she created a device known as a Dragon Radar. It's supposed to track the energy inside a dragon ball and display it on the radar. The dragon balls are seven orbs that are scattered across the entire world, but when brought together one could summon the eternal dragon, Shenron, and make one wish. My wish was to bring my family back to life. They were crushed by our house when the earthquake hit. I was the only survivor. My mom, my dad, my brother, Akira; and my sister, Amaya.

I walked to the door of the circular building. One of the doors had broken off, it was just one. I looked inside. It was dark, but light enough to see without any artificial light source. I hope it wasn't damaged in the earthquake. I move some debris and rubble around to see if it's underneath anything, but to no avail. I search for about thirty minutes, but couldn't find anything. Then I started checking in all the drawers and cubbards. Some of them have fallen over and smashed. Lots of things were unrecognizable due to the wood splinters within them. Still no luck. I decide to take a break and sit against the wall. As I thumped down against the wall to think about what to do next, I heard a hollow part of the wall echoing my thump. I decided to investigate by knocking along the wall, trying to find the hollow point. I found it without any trouble at all, and gave it a hard punch. My fist punched right through the plaster, as if it were paper. Dust and broken bits fell apart, revealing a path. I walk through the wall and follow along the path. I find a safe. Not too big, not too small. I knock on it. There's definitely something in there, and this is a very strong metal. I'm about to burst it open when I hear someone behind me.

"Hands in the air, kid."


	2. Stars In My Eyes

Chapter 2: Stars In My Eyes

It was a deep voice. I slowly bring my hands up. This was the first guy I've ran into so far that's given me any kind of trouble.

"Why ya here?" he asked.

"I'm looking for something," I respond.

"What is it?"

"A dragon radar. It's a device that senses the energy of the dragon balls and displays it on a small screen," I explain.

"The dragon balls are just a myth, kid. A story. Don't try to fool me," he said as he presses his gun to my back.

"What do you want inside a building in an abandoned post-apocalyptic city anyway?" I asked.

"None of your business, kid. Now step aside, I'm opening this safe," he pushes passed me and cocks the gun to shoot the door on the safe. Quicker than he notices I grab the gun with my tail and I use it to swing myself right in front of him. I begin to fast-punch him in his stomach. He drops the gun, ultimately dropping me. I land on my feet and jump up to him for a powerful uppercut. Blood flies out of his mouth and he hits his head on the wall. I prepare my fighting stance as he slowly gets up. He's clenching his stomach and there's a dark bruise where I hit him.

"You're tough, kid," he said, "but not tough enough." this is the first time I actually get a full view of him. He had short hair and a small beard. He wore a black shirt and green pants with combat boots and a dark brown trench coat. He looked menacing, having that angry look in his eye. He attempts to high kick me, but I block it and grab onto his leg. I swing him around the room, occasionally smashing him against the wall or the floor. It wasn't long until the room was covered with blood. I finish him off by throwing him onto the safe. As his body landed, the safe dented with a loud bang. At the same time I heard a loud crack. His spine broke and he was unconscious. I couldn't tell if he was dead or not, but I didn't care.

I picked the gun up off the ground and aimed it at the safe. As I pulled the trigger the the loud bangs pierced my ears and small dents were forming on the door. Once the mag was out I gave the safe a hard punch. The knob fell back and the door creaked open. Inside the safe wasn't money. It wasn't what the man thought would be in here. It was the dragon radar. I knew it would be in here. As I began to walk toward it I stumbled. There was an incredibly sharp pain in my foot. I look down to realize that I had shot my foot. There were no bullet holes, though. It just felt bruised. I guess I can withstand bullets, but they still slightly hurt. I grab the dragon radar. It looks just like it was depicted in the story: small, not too thin, not too thick, circular. It had a dark green screen on it and a button on the top. It resembled a pocket watch. I bring it outside to see it better with the dying sunlight. I press down on the button. To my surprise it worked. Being so old and sitting in that safe for so long I wouldn't think it would still function properly, but it did. There were yellow dots on the screen with numbers next to them. I press down on it again to view from long range. As it turns out, there was a dragon ball not too far from where I was standing. The one star ball. Actually it was inside the Capsule Corp building. I walk inside to find a door to my right. As I walked through it I noticed another doorway in front of me, leading to a hallway, and a door to the left of me, leading into what looked like an indoor garden. The radar told me to go left.

The garden looked magnificent. There was a yellow brick path surrounding a large tree. On the borders of the road were bunches of multi-colored flowers. Stone figures that must have once been fountains sit collecting dust, and there was a skylight that hadn't yet been broken, letting in sunlight for the plants. The radar showed the ball to be near the tree. I switched the radar to close-view in order to see it better. I walked up to the tree to realize that it wasn't near the tree, but rather in the tree. No problem. I gave a giant leap up onto a tree limb and looked around. I couldn't see it so I climbed higher. I look around, circling the trunk. I'm about to go higher, when something caught my eye. The sunlight was bouncing off a small orange ball-looking orb. It was balancing on a fork in he tree branch. I crawled over to the orb and grabbed it.

The size of the dragon ball was interesting. It was a big kind of small, yet a small kind of big. Fit perfectly in my hand. It was orange in the shade, but when I held it up to the light, it looked a little more yellow. The single star in the middle was red. This is my first encounter with a dragon ball and I'm just awestruck. Not because I finally found a dragon ball, but because the stories about these infamous orbs turned out to be true.

I left Capsule Corp that day happy. Should I have felt sympathy for the guy who I may or may have not killed. To be honest I did feel a little bad about it, but that'll get better with the more people I defeat. Since the dragon balls are true, the creatures trying to obtain them will be challenging to kill, just like my Grandpa Goku defeated who are known as the big three: Frieza, Cell, and Buu.

I looked at the dragon radar and switched it to long view. I another yellow dot appeared on the screen with the number four next to it. The four star dragon ball. It looked like it was far away, but it was barely doable. The direction it was headed was into the woods and into the mountain ranges. It'll probably take me a couple days to get there if I start now. I run out of the city and into the woods, only thinking about where it could possibly be.


	3. Yajirobe's Niece

Chapter 3: Yajirobe's Niece

It's been a day since I departed from the abandoned West City. I ran all night and walked all day. According to the dragon radar I was about a third of the way to the four star dragon ball. I've been keeping the one star ball in my shirt, resting on my belt. The radar stayed clutched in my hand. I was right on the edge of the mountain range. It was going to get dark in about three hours and I was hungry. I was told that my Grandpa Goku had quite the appetite, so I'm glad I didn't inherit that or else I'd be starving more than I was.

I walked around a mountain and on the other side saw a house. It wasn't made of wood or anything and didn't look very aged, so I figured that it must have been produced by a capsule. I was surprised; since Capsule Corp got destroyed you couldn't find a whole lot of capsule-produced houses very often anymore. I ran up to it and knocked on the door. No answer. I opened the door and walked in. It was slightly dark inside, only lit up by the sunlight coming in through the windows. The light switch was right by the door. I flipped it on and a couple lights lit up the room. Only a couple, though. Some lights only lit up half way, while others didn't even light up at all, so overall the room was dimly lit, but lit up well enough to see. It looks like someone's first apartment. Just two rooms: a bathroom and a living room/ kitchen. There was an old brown couch with a fairly clean blanket and an old television set on the other side of the room. The kitchen had a small square table with two chairs and a refrigerator. There wasn't an oven or stove. I guess the former owner of this house liked to cook food using a fire. The entire house had a sort of musty odor, but I wasn't bothered too much by this. I opened the refrigerator and searched it. There was preserved meat—looked like a little piece of steak and some fish, along with some apples with a couple brown spots on them.

I cooked up both the steak and the fish with a fire that I created in about five minutes using the stick-drilling technique. Once I finished eating those I ate two apples, carefully eating around the brown spots. Following that I decided to rest my eyes for a couple minutes on the old couch before resuming my walk, but I ended up falling asleep altogether.

The next I woke up I found myself tied to a chair. I looked up to find a girl about my age holding a sword to my neck. She had long brown hair and was wearing a gray t-shirt underneath a red and black striped flannel with black sweatpants and sneakers.

"Who are you?" she asked in a serious tone.

"My name is Kakarot. What's yours?" I asked in a somewhat playful way.

"Karina."

"And I'm guessing this is your house, correct?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. It's just that by the looks of it, inside and out, it looked like nobody lived here. I'm just passing by. I saw your house, and I was hungry. Like I said it looked like no one lived here so I kinda just let myself in. My greatest apologies," I explained. Karina stood there for a minute looking at me.

She raised her sword in the air and swung down.

To my surprise she didn't cut me. She cut the rope that restrained me to the chair. I got up and stretched.

"And for the record I could've gotten out of that anytime I wanted," I told told her. She smiled and put her sword back in its scabbard.

"So what's your story, Kakarot? Actually start off with your name. What kind of name is that?" she asked.

"It's a Saiyan name. Have you ever heard of the Saiyans?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well actually I'm named after the greatest Saiyan that ever existed, also known as the earth's greatest defender, my Grandpa Goku. His Saiyan name was Kakarot, and his earth name was Goku, so Kakarot's what my parents named me, and I don't know if you noticed, but I have the tiniest bit of Saiyan in me," I say, pointing to my tail.

"Goku. I've heard that name before. People have always told me that he was just a story, but I have proof that it's not just a story. This sword here was passed down through many generations from my Great Uncle Yajirobe," she said, handing me the sword. It had weight to it. The blade was as sharp as the day it had been made it seems. The handle was black with orange diamonds on it, and the grip was excellent.

"Yeah, I remember Yajirobe. He helped aid my Grandpa as a kid when he had to defeat the demon King Piccolo," I said, "so you're his neice, huh? That's neat. I'm so glad that there's someone out there that doesn't think that the stories are just myths. Speaking of which, I also have an item that proves that they're not just myths," I take out the dragon ball and hand it to her.

"Is this a dragon ball?" she asked. I nodded, "this is beautiful. To be honest, these dragon balls were the only part about the stories that I didn't believe. So once you gather all seven of them, you're able to summon a dragon and make any wish you want?"

"That's how the stories go. Once my grandpa left the earth the dragon balls disappeared with him. The dragon told everyone that the dragon balls would return once society was able to live without them. That's why they were created: so that society never had to use them, and was only to be used as a last resort, but people began to use it for world domination. They were all stopped by my grandpa, though. I don't know when they came back, I just know that they're back. I don't even know one hundred percent if it works. I've never tried it before. Sure hope it does, though," I said.

"How'd you find it?" she asked.

"With this," I said as I held out the pocket watch-sized radar, "It's a dragon radar. It was created by Capsule Corp in order to find the dragon balls with ease."

"How does it work?"

"It detects the energy that's produced by the dragon balls and displays it with little yellow dots on this screen. I'm actually headed towards that dragon ball right there. See that yellow dot with the four beside it? That means it's the four star ball I'm after," I say as I point to the screen.

"You're running there? That must take days," she said, "You know, I have a capsule with a motorcycle in it. I can give you a ride tomorrow morning and we'd get there before the afternoon."

"That would be fantastic. Thank you," I said, smiling. This was the first friend I've made so far this journey.

"Also, if you don't mind me asking, what are you wishing for?" she asked.

"I'm going to wish my family back to life. Remember that massive earthquake we had a while ago? Well it destroyed my house and I'm the only survivor, so I want to wish my parents and brother and sister back to life," I explained.

"That's sweet. You have a good heart, Kakarot," she said.

"Thank you."

"Hey, speaking of that earthquake, did you feel a strong power level when it hit?"


	4. The Big Discovery

Chapter 4: The Big Discovery

That night was the best I'd slept in a while. Well, I didn't sleep per se. Karina offered me a spot on the couch, but instead I meditated outside all night. I didn't exactly sleep, but I was as relaxed as if I was sleeping. I 'awoke' the next morning in high spirits. Karina walked outside wearing the same thing she wore the previous night, but was now also wearing a black scarf and aviators.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"A little hungry," I said.

"I have just the thing," she said. She ran inside the house. When she came out, she was holding a small sack. She reached into it and pulled out a bean.

"Eat that."

"A bean?" I asked, confused.

"Yep. It's a senzu bean. If you eat one of those they'll keep your stomach filled up for ten days. It'll also replenish your energy."

"How do you get something like this?" I asked.

"I get them from a cat named Korin. Uncle Yajirobe use to live with him up in Korin Tower and delivered senzu beans to Goku and his friends when they were weak," she explained.

"Neat. Thanks," I said as I popped the tiny bean into my mouth. As I swallowed it I suddenly felt like I ate a good breakfast, while also feeling a giant burst of power surge through me, "I feel amazing."

Karina clicked and threw a small capsule and a motorcycle appeared following a puff of smoke, "Let's roll."

I sat on the motorcycle seat right behind her. She quickly started it up and we were off. The motorcycle started to speed up and I had to hold on to Karina to prevent from flying off. Her hair kept flying in my face, but I didn't mind too much. As we passed by the hills and trees I was able to catch a glimpse of the wildlife roaming in the forest. Birds flying, deer running, nature being nature, and the wind blowing through my clothes was cooling. The leaves on the trees were turning different colors with the change in season from summer to autumn. It was magnificent.

We finally arrived at the destination. It was a little farther than Karina thought; we got there about two hours later than was expected, but I didn't care. As long as I got another dragon ball I was fine with it.

The area where we stopped was surrounded by trees and mountains, with a flowing river and we were close to the edge of a cliff. There was a house. It looked crushed and burned, as if the earthquake hadn't caused it, but rather an actual person. But the destruction looked too damaged to be man-made. Before it was damaged it looked like some of the house was capsule-produced, but as if it was built around with wood. Karina and I walked through the rubble, moving it out of the way. The dragon ball didn't seem to be anywhere. Suddenly something caught my eye it was a tiny shack. Well, not a shack, but a miniature temple, as if it were somebody's thinking room. Unlike the house, the small building was undamaged.

"I'm going to check in there," I tell Karina, pointing to the shack. She nodded.

The smaller house was right next to a stone well, untouched as well. It had a curved, blue roof with a point in the middle of it. It was made out of bricks and wood, with two green doors in the front. I walked in.

There was no interior lighting, so everything was lit by sunlight, which didn't seem like an issue, due to the circular window on the left wall. Was a table in the middle of the room and a bed on the right side of the room. The walls were an aged white, with cob webs in the corners. Then I saw it. On a small purple pillow on a shelf there was the four star dragon ball, covered in dust and webs. I blew it off and carefully picked it up.

"Karina! I found the four star ball!" I called out. She ran in and looked at it.

"Amazing," she said in awe. She looked around the room, taking in her surroundings, "Hey, look at that," she pointed to a red pole in with string around it leaning on the wall. I picked it up and inspected it. It was dusty but didn't look aged. I noticed a blue trunk underneath the bed and I pulled it out. I swept the dust off and opened it. Inside was a yellow cloud, which levitated out of the trunk and floated next to me. There was also clothes in here. It was a turquoise gi, a white belt, dark green pants, orange wristbands, and black shoes. It looked like my outfit, but different colors.

"Wait a minute," I said, running out of the small house, "blue curved roof, green door, bricks, white wood, red pole, yellow cloud, clothes similar to mine, this is where my Grandpa Goku use to live."


	5. Knick Knacks

Chapter 5: Knick Knacks

It was just like it was depicted in the stories. It's unbelievable how this tiny house was able to stay standing for centuries. Here on Mount Paozu was where my Grandpa Goku grew up, where he raised his kids, and where this dragon ball sat for years.

"It makes sense that it's here. If you recall, Goku's grandfather, Gohan, gave him the four star dragon ball to remember him by. It's always been special to Goku, so it would only make sense that it ends up in its home," I explained.

"Well we found one, where are the other three?" Karina asked.

"Other three?" I asked back, confused.

"Yeah, the radar had a four next to the yellow spot, right? That means that there are four dragon balls in a certain location, right?"

"That was what the old model did. If you remember in the stories there was that small robot—I think his name is Giru—that ate the dragon radar and it was then on part of him. Well when they finally extracted it out his back, they found that the wiring had been changed so that it shows which ball it is, rather than how many there are. I don't know how it works, I just know that it does," I explained.

"I guess I missed that part of the story. Sorry about that," she said.

I smiled at her and was then surprised by a twitching on my tail. The yellow cloud was flying into me.

"Now that I helped you with some of the story, maybe you can help me. What exactly is this? I mean I recognized it as the yellow cloud from the story, but I was never sure about what it actually does," I asked.

"That's Goku's flying nimbus. He received it from a turtle hermit after he rescued his turtle. It's said that the flying nimbus can carry anyone and take them wherever they want, as long as the rider is pure of heart. So I'm sure that you'll be able to ride it; you have the most pure heart of anyone I've ever met," she said.

"Yeah, but it seems rather fond of me," I say as the nimbus floats closer and closer to me.

"Maybe it thinks that you're Goku. You do look practically identical to him," she said.

"That true," I said, "Well let's see if it'll keep me aloft," I hopped on to the floating yellow puff and felt what seemed like a soft surface to stand on.

"Hey I was right, you _are_ able to stand on it."

"This is pretty neat," I said, "Do you want to try?"

"Sure," she said. I held out my hand to her and she took it, and I helped her up on to it. She was staying aloft just like me, "You were right, it is neat."

"It's strange how I can't remember an item as amazing the flying nimbus," I said.

"Well I don't blame you," she said, "For some reason later in the stories Goku stopped using it. I guess once he learned how to fly the nimbus became kind of redundant. Then once he learned instant transmition flying sorta became not as useful as well. Same with his power pole."

Just then a thought popped in my head, "Stay here," I told her. I ran back inside the small house and grabbed the red pole that was leaning against the wall in the corner. I ran back outside to realize that it was already dark.

I held out my hand to Karina and she took it. I planted the stick firmly into the ground and looked at her.

"Hold on tight," I said. She nodded, smiling. I turned back towards the pole.

"Power pole extend!" I called out. The pole glowed a bright red color and extended, carrying me and Karina along with it. Soon enough we were high above the trees and we got a full view of the moon.

"It's beautiful," said Karina, staring at me and the moon.

The smile quickly wiped from my face.

"Oh no," I said. What felt like an electric shock coursed through my body, and my heart started to beat heavier than it ever had before. My grip loosened on the pole and on Karina, and I let go. As I was falling my vision began to get blurry. I felt tingly on my entire body. It was as if lightning had struck me and I had been paralyzed. I was falling like a rag doll. The force of impact with my body and the ground didn't make the feeling any better, nor any worse.

I passed out.

The last thing I remembered was the sight of the full moon.


	6. Goodbyes

Chapter 6: Goodbyes

When I woke up the next morning my vision began blurry. Once it cleared up I realized that I was still at my Grandpa Goku's little hut. My head was resting in Karina's lap, and she was stroking my hair. I couldn't remember a thing that happened last night. The last thing I could think of was seeing the full moon.

Oh, that's right.

I transformed into Oozaru. When a Saiyan looks at the full moon while at the same time having a tail, they turn into a giant ape. Most native Saiyans received training on Vegeta in order to control their Oozaru form, so that they're still conscious after transforming, and have increased their strength tenfold. I on the other hand am not a native Saiyan and instead I was raised on Earth, so I became unconscious and probably went on a whole rampage. I just hope that Karina was able to stop me before I caused too much damage. I looked up at Karina, and we smiled at each other. This was the first time that I actually had a clear view at her eyes. They were brown.

"Sorry about last night. If anyone knows how to ruin a good time it's me," I said.

"It's fine," she said, "I'm just glad that I was able to stop you before you destroyed the planet."

"Yeah, I should work on training that. You never know when something like that can become useful."

I was finally able to get up. When I finally stood up a fell forwards. There was a strange lightness along my backside. Oh, that's right, my tail's gone. I'm always use to my tail providing weight behind me so I can stay balanced. It'll take time to get use to managing without it.

"Yeah, I had to cut your tail off in order for you to change back. But it'll grow back, right?" she asked. I nodded.

Once I regained my balance I noticed that I was in different clothes. I was in the clothes that were in Grandpa Goku's hut.

"When you transformed you grew so big that it destroyed your clothes, so I had to bring you back here and uh...redress you," she said blushing. I was blushing as well. We both could tell that the other was embarrassed. I actually liked the new clothes. Since my Grandpa Goku got transformed into a kid while wearing the other clothes, they always seemed to be slightly tight. These new clothes were looser, more room to move.

"Well forget about that," I said, "The past is the past. Let's think about the present. We have two dragon balls and there are five more to go. If we ride the flying nimbus to the next destinations, we should have no problem gathering the rest," I run into the hut, grab the power pole and put the it around me, grab the dragon balls (which were now inside a gray sack) and hop on the flying nimbus, "Let's go."

"Wait," Karina said, "Give me the two dragon balls that you have."

"What?"

"We both are pretty sure that the earthquake that happened wasn't just a regular earthquake. What if you encounter whatever caused that earthquake and takes the dragon balls from you? Give them to me and when you find the other five come back here using the radar and then make the wish. Eliminate a problem before it happens," she explained.

"Okay, but how do I know that you won't encounter whatever caused the earthquake?" I asked.

"You have a much greater power level than I do. It would think to go eliminate the threat with the greatest power level first. Wouldn't that be what you would do?" she responded.

"I suppose it is," I say. I hop off the nimbus cloud and take out the dragon balls from the sack. I hand them to her and she puts them in her pockets.

"I guess I'm off," I say, turning around.

"One last thing," she says. As I turn around she quickly steps up close to me and kisses me. As I close my eyes I feel her warm lips against mine and I'm showered with a feeling of happiness. I put my arms around her and she puts her arms around me. After we pull our lips apart I rest my forehead on hers and stroke my hand through her hair.

"Goodbye for now," she whispers to me.

"Goodbye," I say back.

As I hopped onto the flying nimbus I looked back to her one last time and told the nimbus to fly off.

About half an hour later, as the wind blew through my hair I looked down at the dragon radar. There's a dragon ball really far away from where I am, but with the flying nimbus it shouldn't take too long.

"Faster, nimbus," I told it.

Eventually the forest had disappeared and turned into the ocean. The shore escaped from my sight rather quickly I felt like I was flying faster than my mind could perceive. It wasn't long until all I could see was blue, whether it was the ocean or the sky. It was all blue. Once again I looked at the radar I was actually just about right on top of it. I looked around but all I could see was blue. Maybe it was in the water. I flew closer to the water and looked carefully. Couldn't see it. Suddenly something caught my eye. It was an island. A small circular island. I spotted something pink. I flew down to the island and hopped onto the sand. The little pink speck turned out to be a house, but apparently this house had a name.

 _Kame House_ it read above the door.


	7. The Turtle Hermit

Chapter 7: The Turtle Hermit

I walked up to the house and knocked on the green door. I was most surprised at who answered. It was the turtle hermit. He looked just like he'd been depicted in the stories. The sunlight reflected off of his bald head and again off of his red sunglasses. His mustache and beard were shaggy and covered most of his mouth. He wore an orange kung fu jacket and blue kung fu pants and held a staff.

"Goku? You're back?" asked the turtle hermit.

"Mr. Turtle Hermit! I didn't expect you to answer the door," I said with a bow.

"Well why wouldn't you? This is my house after all," he answered.

"Well yeah, but I just thought how since you were also alive centuries ago, during the time of Goku," I explained.

"Has it been centuries already? Felt like just yesterday. That Fountain of Youth water does not disappoint," he said.

"Well I apologize to disturb you Mr. Turtle Hermit-" I begin.

"Please, call me Master Roshi," he says, "and it's no disturbance at all. Your company is rewarding. You sure do look like Goku. Ever since my turtle died and since I haven't gone on a date in years, all I have to look forward to every morning are my exercise tapes," he says, gesturing to the television. There were women on the screen doing leg lifts in leotards.

"Uh...that's nice," I say, "anywho I came to your island today because it says on the dragon radar that you have a dragon ball that I need."

"I do, but I can't give it to just any boy who knocks on my door. How do I know that I can trust you?" he asked.

"Well I'm a grandson of your greatest student, Goku; I'm gathering the dragon balls to wish my family back to life, who were killed in the recent earthquake; and I'm able to ride your nimbus cloud," I say, gesturing to the yellow cloud, floating over the sand.

"You're Goku's grandson? Well I see the resemblance. But what's in it for me?" he asked.

"My company," I said in a question-like tone, "As you said it's rewarding."

He nodded and walked inside. The dragon ball sat on a red pillow in the middle of his black coffee table. It was the five star ball. He stepped back outside and handed it to me. I put it in the gray bag and tucked it into my belt.

"You know if you're after the dragon balls you're going to need to know to fight," he said.

"I'd say I know some moves," I say.

"I could train you and make you stronger than you'd ever think you'd be, just like I taught Goku," he said.

"Thanks, Master Roshi, but I think I'm doing pretty well for myself as of now."

"Well, if you change your mind I'm always here."

I nodded, smiling, and turned to the nimbus, when he called out behind me.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" he asked.

"Kakarot," I answered.

"After Goku's Saiyan name. How do you know about him?" he asked.

"His experiences are told through stories, although these days they're only myths. Only a handful of people actually believe in them," I explain.

"What happened to him?"

"Nobody really knows. Some say he had to grow up again and died of natural causes, some say he became the new guardian of the Earth, some say he became immortal, some say he disapeared to train with the Shenron for all eternity and will show up whenever the Earth is in danger," I explained.

He nodded, "Take care, Kakarot. I hope to see you again."

"Goodbye, Master Roshi," I call back as I hop onto the nimbus cloud and fly away.

I look down at the radar. It says that there's a dragon ball on land out to the east. For a while the farthest I could see was all water, just ocean. It wasn't until sunset when I finally came across land. It was a beach. Further out I could see a road connecting to a neighborhood. I still wasn't very close to the dragon ball. I rode the cloud all night until I decided to sleep on the nimbus.

I was awoken when I felt a powerful blast hit my side. It felt like a train ramming me at full force, and burnt worse than a branding iron. It knocked me right off the nimbus and I fell from what seemed like two hundred yards. I hit the ground at full force and passed out.


	8. Reliving History

Chapter 8: Reliving History

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As I lie facedown in dirt, I found myself dreaming. My vision was fuzzy at first, but continuously got better. I found myself flying through the air, with my fist in front of me, as if I was about to punch something, and sure enough, I did. Before I knew where I was I was hurdled right through a soft-like substance. After I was completely through I looked back and saw that it was a person that I had punched a gaping hole through. He had green skin and antennae. Before I knew what was going on he spit something round and saliva ridden right out of his mouth toward the ground. Disgusted, I looked away to realize that I was falling. I began to panic before my vision went fuzzy again. When it cleared I was still falling. Actually, I was falling faster than I was before. It felt like I was hurdling to the Earth like a rocket of some sort. I heard a faint voice. Someone shouting something.

It sounded like they were saying "I told you I'd win."

Suddenly, before I was able to comprehend it, my head slammed right into the side of something. I didn't know what it was, but it flew about twenty feet in the opposite direction. I lay on the ground, the right side of my chest aching for some reason, which is strange, considering how hard I slammed into that object. I looked up to see another green figure laying motionless on the ground.

Wait a minute.

I recall reading about a green man fighting with Goku on his adventures. Piccolo, I think his name was. Yes, Piccolo the Namekian.

And then it all came together.

I'm reliving all the major ancient battles that my grandfather fought in over his lifetime. The first vision I had was when he defeated the Demon King Piccolo, and the second was when he defeated his son, Piccolo Jr., at the World Martial Arts Tournament years later. As my vision went blurry again, I couldn't help but wonder where Goku's journey would head next. Before I could see anything, I was struck in the abdomen with the most painful and burning feeling that I'd ever experienced. When my vision cleared, it appeared that I was holding someone with long hair in what seemed to be a full nelson. I don't know what this burning feeling is, or what it could be, but as it passed directly through my body, I began tasting blood. I fell to the ground in order to be met with the view of a kid in a yellow robe. I couldn't see his face, so I couldn't be sure who it was. I looked over at Piccolo, who was standing above the person that I had been clinging to. He said something about Saiyans arriving at Earth in one year. Then I remembered: this was when Goku and Piccolo teamed up for the first time to take down my Great Uncle Raditz. And that child that I just saw was my Grandpa Gohan.

I was suddenly taken to a desert. I was standing on a rock. The wind blew dust behind me, and I was met with the gaze of a rather short man with ancient Saiyan armor and spiky hair. Vegeta? Of course, this was the time when Goku fought Vegeta for the first time, when the Saiyans came to try to take over Earth. Suddenly I felt my body fill with energy. A lot of energy. My body began glow red, and before I knew it, my body was surrounded by an aura and I was rushing at Vegeta faster than a bullet as all the energy I had drained like water out of a faucet. The scene changed very rapidly and instead of punching Vegeta, I punched what appeared to be a man with a completely white body and a purple dome on his head. Lord Frieza, this seemed like. The red aura that had previously engulfed my body was now yellow, and my hair felt like it was standing up. As it brushed by my eyes, I noticed that it was yellow as well. I felt strong. Stronger than I ever knew possible. This must have been when my grandfather transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time, and boy, is this a lot of energy to control.

My vision changed once more. This time there was a large blue dome right in front of me. It looked like a large ki blast, and there was what appeared to be a bug-looking creature on the other side. It looks like Cell. We must be in some sort of beam struggle. I felt powerful, yet super exhausted at the same time. My left arm was hanging limp. I couldn't move it without a strong pain running up my shoulder. As Cell's beam overpowered mine, it looked like he collapsed in pain for a moment. This was when I heard a voice in my head.

It shouted "NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!".

I shouted as loudly as I could and released every single last bit of energy I could muster from my body. Cell's body began to disintegrate as I overpowered him and blew him away for good. I guess Goku's not the only person who's experience I relived in this dream. Looks like I relived Gohan's experience of defeating Cell too. My vision went black, and when it came back, I was suspended in mid-air. I was once again exhausted, and it looked I was struggling against a pink fellow with a large white ball-like object. Majin Buu is what it looked like. Being more exhausted than the previous vision, I couldn't find the strength to hold the ball anymore and I lowered my arms.

Suddenly, however, out of nowhere, I felt strong again. I didn't understand it, but I quickly powered up and regained control of the ball and blew it right back at Buu as he was disintegrated in it. The Spirit Bomb. That was what he had used to win this fight. Labeled as one of the most complicated ancient, and time-consuming moves, one is suppose to concentrate and request that all the living things they could think of give their energy for the purpose of making one large energy ball. I've never seen it done before right in front of my eyes, and to experience it firsthand is astonishing, especially because of how big this one was.

My mind traveled to other visions during my unconsciousness. The first time grandfather became a god, becoming a Super Saiyan 4, defeating a Tuffle named Baby, defeating an android known as Super 17, and defeating the ultimate opponent, Omega Shenron, who extracted his power straight from the Dragon Balls themselves. These visions were amazing. I knew that Goku was one of the greatest fighters that ever existed, but this just surpasses everything that I originally perceived about him.

But just when I thought I was going to experience yet another ancient battle, I began to feel something solid brush up against my face. It was then when I finally regained consciousness, and boy did I find myself in a pickle today.


	9. Too Close For Comfort

Chapter 9: Too Close for Comfort

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The entire left side of my body was in pain from whatever hit me before I fell. I tried moving my arm and the pain shot up to my shoulder. My vision was blurry, but I regained it fast.

When my vision became clear, I looked around to find a large native Indian-like tribe surrounding me. My movements alarmed them, as if they were afraid I was going to hurt them, yet they held spears, as if they wanted to hurt me. They all circled around me. To them, I was a trespasser; an invader from the outside world. They seemed like a rather secluded tribe. The tension that hung around in the air was enough to make anybody sweat.

I was about to speak, when a brave man poked me from behind with his spear.

"We know why you're here," his voice sounded menacing, yet soft, as if he didn't mean to cause any trouble, "You're another one of Joel's men, aren't you? Well, forget it. Tell him if he wants to treat our tribe with so much disrespect, terrorize the innocent men, women, and children, then he's going to have to fight for it," he said. After hearing this, I only found myself more confused than I was before. Who was this Joel that this man speaks of, and what has he done to this tribe to make them hate him so much?

I stood in the middle of the circle, speechless. I felt like I was inches away from death, but I knew that I couldn't fear anything now. How could I expect to bring my family back to life if I froze at every danger I encountered? I gathered my confidence and began to speak.

"I apologize for trespassing on your land, but I don't know who this Joel that you speak of is. I'm just a peaceful wanderer," I tried to explain.

The man looked at me with a stern look, "What kind of fools do you take us for? You have given us no proof of you being a peaceful entity. In fact, it seems as if you're here for the exact opposite reason. You drop in on us in the middle of the night, carrying a concealed weapon on your person," he says, as he holds up my grandfather's powerpole, "Why, even your clothes tell us that plan to engage in some form of combat. If that doesn't describe a mission involving manslaughter exactly, I wouldn't know what does."

To this, I once again found myself speechless. I wanted to him that he had the wrong idea, try to convince the tribe that I really was peaceful, but I don't even know where to start.

Before I could begin to say anything else, the man gave them a command in a language that I didn't understand, but I could only assume that it was a command to engage in battle. All at once they quickly began to move in closer to me, and I didn't know what to think. My mind was blank, yet at the same time it was racing. Could this really be the end? My adventure had barely even started yet, and here it was, about to end.

The tribesmen raised their spears, when suddenly:

Someone shouted something in the tribe's native language, just as the other man had before. From the sound of it, it was either a command to kill me, or a command telling them to seize for a minute. Judging by the confusion of the tribe, I couldn't help but assume that it was the second one. The tribe now silent, the only sound that could have possibly been heard was my heart, beating louder than any drum that has ever been hit. The tribesmen parted, as to make way for what appeared to be an old man. He was quite a short fellow, with a long beard that was inconsistently present with brown and white. He had the same darkish skin as the other tribemembers and wore a long white robe that reach down to his knees. On top of that, he wore an old, brown vest made of what looked like the same material as the robe. He held a cane that fit his stature, short and stalky. He didn't have much of a facial expression, but he squinted. I could barely see his eyes. I wonder how he could see with his eyes squinted like that, but I suppose it's best not to ask. When he finally reach me, he looked up and down my body, as if scanning for something out of the ordinary. Then he reached my head and raised his eyebrows.

"That hair. The pointed hair. I've seen it before," his voice was very windy, as if he just had enough energy to get the words out, "follow me, son."

I did as I was told. I followed him out of the crowd. Upon my exit of the large mass, I looked to my left and noticed a large patterned column standing up out of the ground. I looked up it, trying to find the top of it, but to no avail. It looked as if it stretched on forever into the clouds.

I then looked to my right. There stood a towering statue of a large muscular man holding a spear. There was a scar on the right side of his chest, as if from being cut in battle. He was holding a younger man. Judging by the smile on their faces, the younger man appeared to be his son. He was holding a smaller spear and wore a feather on his head, one that matched his father's.

I looked down to the base of the statue. It read "Bora and Upa: The First Defenders of Korin Tower".


	10. A Revelation Wrapped in Ribbons

Chapter 10: A Revelation Wrapped in Ribbons

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The old man walked into a small temple and I closely followed. There wasn't much to see on the outside, just a yellow stone structure that was barely taller than a tent. There wasn't much light inside. Just a couple torches and whatever sunlight could make its way in through the entrance. We walked down a flight of stairs for a while, the amount of natural sunlight becoming smaller and smaller. Once we finally reached the bottom of the staircase, the old man grabbed a torch from off of the wall and turned the corner, walking along the wall until he came across a certain set of what looked to be hieroglyphics, but upon close inspection, I found that they were stone carvings that depicted the adventures and journey of Goku. The one that the old man specifically stopped at he held the torch up to. The stone carving depicted the battle that Goku fought with a man in a robe that had a long ponytail and had very squinty eyes. I recognized this key battle instantly. This certain set of stone carvings depicted the ancient battle that Goku fought against the one whom they called Mercenary Tao. In fact, if I remember correctly, the battle took place right outside this temple.

The thing is, though, the only thing that I really knew about that battle is that he fought Mercenary Tao and won. The old tales that I've heard about my grandfather primarily revolve around his later life. Not much is said about what happened during his early life, though. It's because of this as to why the other drawings surrounding the one depicting the battle confused me. What are all these extra drawings? One looks like Goku's lying on the ground and another looked like he was climbing something. Could it have been that tall column that I saw before?

"What do you know of the one called Goku?" the old man asked. His voice echoed throughout the entire temple.

"He's my ancient ancestor," I answered.

"Well the resemblance is uncanny," he said, "Do you know what happened during the battle that's depicted on this wall?"

"Not much," I explained, "I know that they fought and that Goku won, but I never quite learned about the specific details of the battle."

"Have you heard of the Red Ribbon Army?" he asked. As a matter of fact, they taught us about that army in grade school, but I didn't know that it had any relevance to this fight. In fact, though we did learn about them, not much about what they did or how the army died out was really explained in clear detail. The teachers always just told us that their bad luck _came back around_ , and I never really know what they meant by that.

As for the old man's question, I told him that I've heard about them, but haven't learned much about them.

He proceeded, "The army was lead by a man named Red, who strived to us the magical orbs known as the Dragon Balls selfishly, in order to make himself taller. Resist as they might, Goku was miraculously able to take down the entire army on his own. Earlier on in the battle, Goku settled here and took down one of the captains who were trying to steal a Dragon Ball from us. The captain was unsuccessful, so General Red sent in reinforcements. He hired the most dangerous assassin on the planet to take care of Goku and get the Dragon Ball. During their first battle, he killed one of the first defenders of Korin Tower, Bora," I remembered the statue that stood outside the temple, "Not only that, but he almost killed Goku, but one of the Dragon Balls was right in the middle of were Tao's final hit would have been, so Goku was unscathed. It was then, when Goku realized that he needed to climb the Korin's tower, right outside this temple," he pointed to the picture depicting Goku climbing the tower, "When he reached the top, Goku met Korin, who gave him the magical water, and Goku returned stronger than ever. Tao returned later for the Dragon Ball that he forgot, the one that protected Goku. After noticing Goku's large increase in strength, he then strived to climb the tower as well. Once he reached the top, he drank the water and returned to the battle, but to no avail. Goku was still to strong for him, and Goku eventually vanquished him, eliminated the rest of the Red Ribbon Army, and brought Bora back to life. It was some time after these events happened, and the tribe finally began to grow, is when we erected a statue of Bora and his son, Upa, in order to commemorate them for being the first defenders. As for Goku, we built this entire temple in his memory, illustrating every battle of his that he's come back and told us about."

At this he gestured to the rest of the temple walls.

"What does all this have to do with me?" I asked, "Surely it's not just a coincidence that I look like him, there has to be some other reason that you decided to save me from your tribespeople today," I explained.

He nodded, "The last time Goku ever visited the village, he told us that even though he'd be gone, he will return to save us from tyranny once again one day," he paused, "and so he has."

I once again found myself confused.

"My boy, you don't just simply resemble Goku; you are his reincarnation."


	11. Joel's Brute

Chapter 11: Joel's Brute

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As I stood in the dark, cold temple, I attempted to process what I've just been told. Could I really be the reincarnation of the legendary warrior? The more I thought about it, the smaller the temple seemed to get. What began as a large room suddenly felt like a small box. My body tingled. It couldn't be true, my grandfather was a warrior, a legend; and what am I? I barely have any Saiyan in me, and on top of that, I only know a fraction of the martial arts that he did. My power level isn't even anywhere near where his was. I'm a measly two hundred at best. I suddenly remembered where I was and looked down at the old man.

"That's impossible," I said, "I'm not half the fighter my grandfather was."

"You came riding on a cloud, didn't you?" he asked, "Only those who are the most pure of heart have the ability to ride a cloud like that. Goku was able to ride that cloud without any difficulty, and it looks the same for you. You may think that you're a mere speck of dust compared to him, but that can't be farther from the truth. You have the ability to tap into him and his power. When the time is right, you will know what to do."

At that moment I thought that I had felt a small flicker of something in my chest. Could it be the flame of my grandfather's soul begin to spark inside me? The feeling was gone as soon as it had started, but even a tiny feeling like that allowed me to feel immense power; power beyond anything that I could ever imagine. Could my grandfather be present in me? I guess I'll find out eventually.

I nodded at the old man and we made our way back up the stairs. As I began to walk I felt myself falling backward. It feels like something was pulling me back. I felt around behind me until I felt something fluffy. It looks like that little flicker inside my chest was enough to pop my new tail out. Now that I got use to not having it, I suppose I have to readjust to having it there again.

We approached the exit of the temple and I flinched at the sunlight that shone through. We returned to the tribe to find them all down on their hands and knees in neat rows. At the other side of the rows triumphantly stood a man with orange curly hair with a mustache. His arms were thick and veiny, his muscles bigger than the old man. He stood tall, but at the same time not being very. He wore something that the city folk I use to see on the street wore, just a regular old dark grey button-down shirt and jeans. He also wore black fingerless gloves and dark brown brown boots.

He stood laughing as he held one of the tribesmen by their hair. The tribesman wasn't moving, and he was covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like his face was mangled more than anything. Cuts everywhere, bent nose, black eyes, lost teeth, and the color of his face was drained. It would be a miracle if he wasn't dead yet.

"Oh dear," said the old man in surprise. It was then that the brute looked in our direction. He spotted us and released the man from his grasp. He began walked rather briskly toward us with an evil-looking grin on his face.

As he got closer he began winding up his fist. He came almost running towards us as he swung a powerful right hook at the old man. Luckily, right before his fist made contact, I was able to block it and countered with a right hook of my own. I landed my fist right on his cheekbone and sent him flying off about ten feet. My block caused my entire arm to be enveloped in a wave of pain. I had forgotten how much my arm hurt from my fall. I winced and held it as the brute got up, him holding his bruised face.

"Nice shot, kid. I'll definitely feel that one later," he said in a grungy voice.

He walked over and I attempted a right jab. He blocked it and punched me in the stomach. I began seeing stars and fell to my knees. Once my vision cleared I noticed something red on the statue behind him. It was the Power Pole!

As I held my stomach with my left hand, I landed a hard punch to his shin, right below his knee just before he was about to knee my face. He fell to the ground and I start speed wobbling toward the pole, clutching my stomach, each step feeling like it was about to pour out. When I reached the Power Pole, I quickly took it out of the holster and called out the words "Power Pole Extend!". As the pole quickly grew to more than double its original height, I swung it around as fast as I could and it nailed him in his face, about the bridge of his nose. The pole made a loud _thwack_ that echoed throughout the woods. As he fell to the ground, I quickly ran up to his body, jumped into the air, and kneed him in his chest. I could feel and hear his sternum crack against my knee. He was coughing blood and gasping for air. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the bridge of his nose was now concave, bending inward almost three inches, with a bruise that looked blacker than the night sky. His chest had a massive bruise on it as well.

Lying on the ground, covering his chest, the brute muttered "Joel isn't going to like this," with each word in between either a loud gasp for breath, or a cough of blood. Then he passed out.

I collapsed on the ground, holding my stomach, my vision going foggy, and soon I found myself unconscious as well.


End file.
